Gov. Daniels requests federal aid for April storms

INDIANAPOLIS -- Putnam County is among the 34 counties for which Gov. Mitch Daniels requested federal public assistance.

Daniels asked President Barack Obama Wednesday to provide federal public assistance to the 34 counties, as well as individual assistance to 11 counties.

The request stems from damage sustained from severe weather, including flooding, tornadoes and straight-line winds that began April 18.

Putnam County received 4.15 inches of rain from two storm on April 18. The region was also battered by strong winds and some hail.

Counties included in the request for public assistance are Benton, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Dubois, Floyd, Franklin, Gibson, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Ohio, Orange, Parke, Perry, Pike, Posey, Putnam, Ripley, Scott, Spencer, Starke, Sullivan, Switzerland, Vanderburgh, Warrick and Washington.

If a disaster declaration for public assistance is granted, state and local governments and certain non-profit organizations in the designated counties would be eligible to apply for federal assistance to pay 75 percent of the approved cost of debris removal, emergency services related to the disaster and repairing or replacing damaged public facilities, such as roads, buildings and utilities.

Among the 11 counties included in the request for individual assistance are Decatur, Dubois, Gibson, Greene, Harrison, Lawrence, Monroe, Pike, Posey, Vanderburgh and Vigo.

Individual Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

The request indicated that further damage may be identified and reserved the right to request assistance for additional counties.

IDHS encourages everyone who has not yet reported severe weather damage beginning April 18, 2011 and continuing (including damage from May 25 tornadoes) to report the damage at www.in.gov/dhs. In the middle of the page under "Topics of the Day," click on "Report Damage Beginning April 18, 2011 and Continuing - Wind and Flooding."